10 Things You Missed in the Season 7 Finale of 'Game of Thrones'

Honestly, this is making me feel like I know less than Jon Snow, which is really saying something.

By
Chanel Vargas

Aug 29, 2017

HBO

The season 7 finale of Game of Thrones confirmed a lot of things super-fans already knew—Jon Snow (do we have to call him Aegon now?) was declared a legitimate Targaryen heir and, yep, his new lover Dany's nephew, Arya and Sansa Stark tag-teamed Littlefinger into a bloody grave (do we think Arya is gonna take his face?) and the White Walkers breached (obliterated, via dead dragon fire) the Wall. Sure, you figured it was coming to this—but it's possible, in the midst of all your favorite fan theories coming true, that you missed a few details. Here, the more subtle nuances of season 7's finale.

1. If you thought it was strange that Bronn, Jamie's right hand, and Podrick, Lady Brienne's squire, left the elite meet-up, you're right.

HBO

"C'mon Pod. Why don't you and me go have a drink while the fancy folk talk?" Bronn asks the young man before they exit the old dragon coop. Weird, right? Why are main players' seconds leaving the ring when a fight could erupt at any moment? According to Reddit (and confirmed by news sites), Lena Headey (Cersei) and Jerome Flynn (Bronn) were once a real-life couple — allegedly, they ended really, really badly. So badly, in fact, that they're rarely in the same room on set and have only been in one scene together over the duration of the whole show. Guess they weren't about to make it two.

2. Tyrion lingering outside Dany's door while she and Jon have boat relations wasn't just for creeps.

According to an astute Redditor, Tyrion has a good reason to fear a Daenerys Targaryen pregnancy (you know, besides the fact that a baby by Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen would be both her son/daughter and her great-niece/nephew)—and it has to do with her political goal to "break the wheel" of corruption in Westeros:

"Tyrion is worried about who will rule Westeros after Daenerys. Last episode, he mentioned succession and seemed to see Daenerys's supposed infertility as an opportunity to truly break the wheel of monarchy and institute some kind of democracy in Westeros. He suggests the forms of voting that the Night's Watch and the Ironborn use to elect their leaders. But if Daenerys has a child, she may easily fall back to the concept of birthright, believing her family could never grow corrupt under the right advisement." —@dogstardied

Essentially, what if Dany's child is more Mad King than Mother of Dragons and decides to pull a Cersei and set everyone he/she knows on (wild)fire? What if, blinded by love, Dany chooses unstable lineage succession over a democratic system that puts citizen representation first? It's a real fear—especially considering the Targaryen track record—and one that might explain Tyrion pacing outside her bed chamber wishing birth control could hurry up and be invented already.

3. Or Tyrion made a not-so-hot deal with Cersei and he's working up the courage to tell Dany.

HBO

Anyone else think that Tyrion-Cersei rendezvous went a little too well? Okay, so Cersei doesn't have any real intention of helping out Dany and Jon in the Great War up north, but she did come out of her meeting with her brother acquiescent, with words of camaraderie for her enemies. Why the sudden change? Beyond Tyrion's realization of his sister's supposed pregnancy, no terms are laid out during their emotionally-heightened chat. What did he offer her to make her agree to "go North?" Does it have anything to do with Dany's third and final betrayal?

After realizing that Cersei won't have the Mountain end him after all, Tyrion heads for the bar cart (typical) to decompress from the tension. He drains a glass of wine (kinda dumb to be drinking what could be poison in your murderous sister's chambers, no?) before offering Cersei her own. She doesn't touch it—but goes on to place her hand on her stomach, prompting Tyrion's statement: "You're pregnant." It's unclear whether or not pregnant women drink in the GoT universe, but her abstinence could be an exaggerated moment of truth-telling. Despite the negatory rumors, she might actually be with child.

5. We've seen that shot of Arya and Sansa debriefing Littlefinger's demise at the top of Winterfell before.

HBO

Seeing Sansa and Arya reunite and reestablish kinship for the first time this season—it's likely that the Stark girls were playing Littlefinger the whole time, but we're not exactly sure if that "I wonder what it's like to wear your face, Sansa" scene was faux or real—brings us back to a near identical scene in the season 6 finale, in which Jon and Sansa discuss not trusting Baelish ("Only a fool would trust Littlefinger," Sansa tells her de facto brother) and each other. Just as much as Arya and Sansa's conversation on the snow-capped roof is one of union, so is Jon and Sansa's ("We need to trust each other," Jon tells her in season 6, after she apologizes for not offering intel on the Knights of the Veil.) Looks like the roof is where the Stark (ugh, and Targaryen?) kids go to make up.

6. Did you see Sir Jorah Mormount's face when Dany agreed to go sailing with Jon Snow? SO SAD.

HBO

There's been a lot of mixed signals about who Daenerys will or should end up with, but prior to the finale, Jorah and Jon were both in the running. A hop, skip, and a passionate boat voyage later, and it's not looking good for the cured Stone Man. After Jorah's suggestion that Dany should fly north on Drogon, solo, is shot down (sigh, excuse the dead dragon pun), his face crumbles in defeat. He knows who she's chosen and it's killing him.

7. Jon Snow's given Targaryen name, Aegon, isn't original—at all.

In fact, his dad, Rhaegar Targaryen also named his first son, born by Elia Martell, Aegon. We can assume, though, that the original Aegon is dead—that's what that whole head-crushing Mountain/Viper battle was about. The double-naming could have been a way for Rhaegar to connect his sons to a long lineage of Targaryen rulers, many of which were named Aegon (the original ruler of the seven kingdoms was named Aegon the Conquerer). A better answer to this can be found in the books, though—Aegon, son of Rhaegar, is the Prince that was Promised (the Azor Ahai), the true "song of ice and fire." Since Elia Martell's Aegon is gone and considering Jon Snow's Stark (ice!) and Targaryen (fire!) genes, the show could be making good on the book's prophecies for season 8.

8. In case you missed it, Theon definitely doesn't have genitals.

In a season that was very concerned about establishing eunuch status (we're still debating over that Grey Worm and Missandei love scene), the finale confirmed that Ramsey Bolton actually did castrate then-Reek and send the remains to his sister, Yara (this eventually prompts a failed rescue mission in season 4). Interestingly enough, we learn this information as Theon fights for his life in an attempt to convince the remaining Greyjoys to rescue Yara—who he, in a fit of trauma-induced cowardice, failed to defend from Uncle Euron earlier in the season. As Theon's attacker brutally beats him on the shoreline, the tides turn when blows are directed between his legs—nothin'. Theon recovers, defeats his assailant and convinces his men to save his sister. Talk about turning a weakness into a strength, right?

9. Bran Stark, despite his Three-Eyed-Raven powers, admitted that he can't see the future.

"I can see things that happen in the past," Bran Stark tells an incredulous Sam Tarly. "I can see things happening now all over the world." What he can't do, however, is let us know how everything's going to turn out (re: whether the living or dead will win the most dire war of all time)—but that wouldn't make for a good storyline, would it?

10. We also discovered that Bran isn't 100-percent omniscient.

Convinced that Dorne-born Jon Snow is really a "Sand" (the "Snow" bastard equivalent in Dorne), Bran learns from a well-read Tarly that Jon's parents, Rhaegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark, were actually married at the time of his birth, making him the legitimate, first-in-line heir to the Iron Throne (yep, ahead of Dany). Bran then wargs back in time to confirm this, but as it turns out, has to know what he's looking for in order to venture into the past. Maybe only Four-Eyed-Ravens can do it all??

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